


Changed

by GoringWriting



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Awesome Gwaine (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Camelot, F/F, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Gwaine Flirts (Merlin), M/M, Merlin is a Little Shit, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Merlin's Neckerchief (Merlin), Oblivious Arthur, Potions, Protective Arthur, Protective Gwaine (Merlin), Protective Merlin, Spells & Enchantments, canon-typical bullshit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25223953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoringWriting/pseuds/GoringWriting
Summary: Merlin gets hit with a potion that leaves him changed. Will he find a way to change himself back or will he be stuck in the body of a woman for the rest of his life?
Relationships: Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

Merlin hears the sorcerer before he can see him. He's racing around shelf after shelf in the library. Trying to dodge the power hes throwing at him, Geoffrey is going to kill him. There's a potion in the sorcerer's hand. Merlin doesn't know what it does and he definitely doesn't want to find out by it getting poured on or in Arthur.

It's a hard battle. Merlin can't get in eyesight of the sorcerer to use a spell before they are sending more magic at him.

He tries the old fashioned way. Pushing shelves over and hoping they land on the sorcerer. 

They don't.

"Enough games fool. I'll deal with you once I've dealt with your master," the sorcerer says and Merlin breathes a sigh of relief. At least he's not dealing with a Druid.

Merlin sees the sorcerer vanish from the room and Merlin curses and takes off through the castle. His magic making him just the tiniest bit faster than he normally is. 

He has to get to the round table, where the knights and Arthur will be gathered. That's where the sorcerer has to be heading.

Merlin turns down one of the halls that servants use and in through the door he used to use to spy on Uther. 

Merlin sneaks in and sees the sorcerer standing on the table potion in hand. Merlin bites his lip he doesn't have time to use a spell and tackles the man. They go tumbling to the ground and Merlin feels the potion pour down his front.

"No!" The Sorcerer shouts pulling away. Somehow managing to avoid the potion.

"This isn't the end of it!" He says and vanishes and Merlin groans and starts to wipe the stuff off. 

"Merlin are you alright?" Gwaine asks coming over and he and Lancelot come over to help him.

"Don't touch the potion. I don't know what it does," Merlin says as they sit him up.

"That was very brave as very stupid!" Gwaine says ruffling his hair.

"Someone has to save the King," Merlin says with a chuckle and he's almost done with the potion when his skin starts to feel warm.

"Get back. The potion is doing something!" Merlin says and both men listen to him surprisingly.

Merlin screams as the heat from the potion shoots through his body. His body arches and he jerks and passes out.

When he wakes up he can hear people outside talking.

"Gaius...the cure?" He hears Arthur demanding. Merlin is having trouble breathing. Like there's something on his chest, pushing it down.

"I...Sire...might... irreversible," Gaius says. Merlin is aware of a hand in his and he's just about to squeeze it but he goes back under.

The next time he wakes he's a bit more aware and he opens his eyes. Blinks a couple of times. Gwaine and Lancelot are slumped against the wall asleep. One of them must have been the hand holding his.

"Gaius?" He calls out softly and his throat must be dry or something because there's something off about it.

He struggled to sit up and when he does he's aware of weight pulling him forwards and his shirt bunching up around his chest. 

Merlin rubs sleep from his eyes and reaches to adjust his shirt. Freezing when his hands brush something that definitely wasn't there before. He takes a deep breath and looks down.

He has breasts.

Women's breasts.

Merlin sucks in a breath and he's aware that his pants also feel different and he's missing something in them.

Merlin raises a shaking hand to his head and feels around. His cheeks bones are a bit softer. His lips plush and he has thicker eyelashes. His ears are the same through which is a relief until he feels his hair now reaching his shoulders.

Merlin handles decides to handle the situation with grace.

He starts screaming.

Gwaine and Lancelot jerk awake and rush to his side just as Gaius comes in.

"Merlin! Merlin! Just breathe okay. We're right here. You're alright!" Lancelot says as the lay him back down.

"Alright? Alright? Have you lost your mind? I've been turned into a woman!" Merlin says. There's nothing wrong with being a woman. But he is not a woman.

"We know we know. Just lay back let Gaius examine you and then we'll tell you what happened," Gwaine says and Merlin sighs and flops back.

He has to fix this.


	2. Chapter 2

Merlin listens as Gaius explains that his body is now completely functional. How there was no counter to it to be found in magic or medicine but that wasn't stopping him from looking into it more.

Lancelot is holding his hand. His now much smaller hand. His now more dainty hand. The hand of a woman. That Merlin now is. But he isn't a woman. He was born a man he is a man.

He's barely listening to Gaius. Only looking up when there is a knock at the door. Merlin glances up and sees Gwen and Morgana coming into the room. Fabrics in their hands.

"Those better not be for me," Merlin says glaring at the dresses in their arms.

"Well yes...but don't worry Gwen made some alterations to all of this. The necklines higher, the bodices looser, and of course hidden under them are trousers. That way you can still be wearing pants should you need to have to wear these but we mostly have trousers and shirts adjusted for your body," Morgana says. 

"Why would I need a dress?" Merlin asks. 

"In case you're like this when Dignitaries and the like come to visit," Morgana says.

"Can't I just dress as a man. I am a man!" Merlin snaps.

"Do you really want to try to explain this to nobles older than dust and who thought Uther was a hero?" Morgana asks.

"No, I suppose not. But if Arthur thinks he's going to treat me any different I'll kick his padded backside down the stairs," Merlin says and the others all share a look and Merlin really doesn't like that look.

"What has the Prat done now?"

"Assigned George as his new manservant and you to Gwen's old position," Morgana says.

"Lancelot fetch me trousers and a shirt. Gwaine, I'm going to need to borrow your sword," Merlin says.

"What for?"

"I'm going to commit Regicide," Merlin says.

Merlin emerges from the castle in a pair of black trousers and a red shirt. Gwaine had shown Gaius how to wrap bandages around his chest to give him some of his figure back. He'd forced Lancelot to help chop the hair off into something closer to his old style and went in search of Arthur.

Walking is harder than he thought it would be. His body gangly and uncoordinated and his boots were now too big for him. Bless Gwen gifting him a pair.

It took him a few tries to get his body coordinated enough but as soon as he was he was on his way to Arthur. Gwaine had refused the lending of his sword and now both knights are following him down to where Arthur is training the other knights.

Merlin is gonna kill him.

It's amazing that no one is whispering about him, about the change and he thinks he has Morgana to thank.

"Merlin, just think about this. It would be indecent for Arthur to have a woman to do the things he has you do for him," Lancelot says.

"Except, I'm not a woman. I'm a man currently stuck in a woman's body that I was forced into saving the prat's ungrateful arse," Merlin says and he steps onto the training field.

Merlin can tell the moment he's spotted because training stops immediately. Merlin can see some of the younger knights looking confused until it clicks for them.

"Merlin..." Arthur says a smile on his face.

The slap can be heard across the battlements.

"HOW DARE YOU! I HAVE PUT UP WITH YOUR PRATISHNESS FOR YEARS!!! I HAVE FOLLOWED YOU INTO BATTLE. SAVED YOUR LIFE! AND NOW THAT I AM IN THIS BODY, SAVING YOU I MIGHT ADD, YOU CAST ME ASIDE!" Merlin shouts his voice shrill and serveral octaves higher than it should be. But he doesn't have the mind to worry about it. He's too focused on the prat in front of him.

"Merlin..." Arthur says reaching to slap him in the head but then remembering the fact that he's a woman and dropping it back down.

The knights don't react looking too confused.

"Oh come off it! I am still me! My body might be different but my brain is still me! It's bad enough I'm going to have to learn to dress differently, I talk differently and now I'm going to have to do almost everything differently because of this form and because it would be inconvenient to have to explain this," Merlin gestures to his body, "please don't make me have to change everything else."

"How can we help?" Gwaine asks.

"What?"

"How can we help? You said you were upset because you'll have to behave differently because of your form. I assume it's because no one but us in the round table room knows what happened right?" 

"Yes," Merlin says unsure. Gwaine has always been the first to flirt with anything that moves, but...he's always kept it respectful and backed off when no interest was shown. Perhaps he'd understand.

"Men flirting with you, taking liberties with your person, shop owners trying to chest you? Things like that?"

"Yes," Merlin breathes out, finally someone gets it. Wait...the servants don't even know about the change then...that's why there was no whispering when he had stormed down the hall. She just looked like a weirdly dressed women storming away from two knights.

"Okay then. Perhaps small meetings to bring attention to the problem? Explain that regardless of your form you are still Merlin and to be treated as such?" Gwaine says.

"Yes...yes exactly like that," Merlin says.

"Perhaps some with the townspeople as well. I can also help you with the bindings and clothing to make you appear closer to masculine. I've helped other women do so when they've needed to travel. I can't do anything about the voice but maybe Gaius has something. The hair we can talk to Gwen about. Make it a bit better looking for a man." Gwaine says.

"Who are you and what have you done with Gwaine?" Elyan asks from the line of knights that were training.

Merlin has the same question but he thinks he knows the answer. Gwaine grew up with a single mother. Who was penniless. She likely had to travel hidden and such, Gwaine had probably grown up being aware of how women are treated and being raised to be even more sensitive to issues involving them. Along with the fact that he did tell Merlin in his own words that he was his only friend. This is him trying to help his friend. Not to mention he's not hungover because he must have been by his sickbed for awhile.

"Now as for duties," Gwaine says and both Merlin and Arthur move to interrupt.

"Wait. Just let me speak first?" They nod.

"I assume there is a long list of duties you do Merlin. Now, I have heard you complain about the Princess being unable to dress himself. I can only assume that Arthur likely feels uncomfortable being dressed, bathed, and such intimate services being performed by a woman's body?" Gwaine asks.

"It's improper," Arthur mumbles.

"And Merlin wants to remain your MANservant," Gwaine says emphasizing the man and Merlin could kiss him.

"Yes," Merlin says.

"Okay. Merlin, I'm going to try to put some words to what I think Princess is to emotionally constipated to say right now okay? I think he's having a hard time reconciling the two bodies as you. Logically he knows that you are still you. That this changes nothing about you. But that thought usually comes after he sees a woman. I think he just needs to spend a bit of time with you to adjust to the change so his idiot self can go Merlin! Before it goes Woman! So how about a compromise. Some duties, perhaps bathing, dressing, and training will be done by George and everything else you can do. This way he can adjust to the changes. Then once he's comfortable you can be eased back into the duties," Gwaine says.

"Who came up with this plan Gaius, Morgana or Gwen?" Arthur asks.

"It was a combination of me, Gwen, and Gaius. Gwen helped with the knowledge of what female servants to make masters normally do, Gaius helped weed through the emotional constipation, my own included, I'll admit before you woke up I was having trouble identifying you as you. But I also have experience with women who can and have beaten up men bigger than me. So it was easier for me. I came up with the compromise idea."

"I'm not admitting to emotions but I am willing to compromise on the chores list and not assign you to Morgana."

"I guess I can't argue with compromise. Especially if it means I don't have to wake up before dawn to make sure the prat is awake on time," Merlin says.

"Idiot."

"Clotpole."

"Shut up Merlin," Arthur says and Merlin smiles at the familiarity. Maybe Gwaine is right Arthur needs to see for himself that he's still Merlin.

"Come on. You need to rest and you can't stay wrapped up too long. It makes breathing difficult," Gwaine says.

Merlin nods and follows him back to his room. He hopes Gaius finds a cure soon.

Knowing his luck though it will probably be some plant that is terribly far or some horn from some beast, or some sort of magic he's going to need to find someone to perform even though he's supposed to be magic itself. 

Ridiculous.

At least Gwaine is there to help.


End file.
